Little Jordyn, again

[3 is enough]

Obedience issues aside, that poor little girl was barely 2 at the time of filming. Why was she even included in the lesson? She was far too young, and didn't have the attention span for that kind of activity. But Jana and Jill were probably off doing firefighter stuff, and God forbid her mother actually step up and care for her own child.

Jessa probably is less than sympathetic to the little ones. I remember Michelle saying that Jessa was very "spirited" as a young child, and that they had a hard time making her listen. She probably got beaten regularly until she learned to listen.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

. But Jana and Jill were probably off doing firefighter stuff,

I want to believe this happens when the cameras are off, but my gut feeling is they don't respond to many calls--who'd take care of the youngest kids if they did? Who'd get dinner? Who'd....that's an awful lot to dump on Grandma!!! [Yes I'm being sarcastic--though not about poor Grandma]

[xDreamerx]

Obedience issues aside, that poor little girl was barely 2 at the time of filming. Why was she even included in the lesson? She was far too young, and didn't have the attention span for that kind of activity. But Jana and Jill were probably off doing firefighter stuff, and God forbid her mother actually step up and care for her own child.

Jessa probably is less than sympathetic to the little ones. I remember Michelle saying that Jessa was very "spirited" as a young child, and that they had a hard time making her listen. She probably got beaten regularly until she learned to listen.

So true.

[emmiedahl]

My baby sleeps in a pack 'n play because there's no room for a crib. Our house is less than ten percent the size of the Duggars', though, so I'm hoping we get a pass.

Ditto here. We can't afford a new crib and all of the old ones have been recalled. Even if I was not too worried to put the baby in the older crib that his siblings used, there is no room for it in our house. We have less than 1300 sq ft for 7 people, though, and I suspect the Duggars could find the money and space if necessary.

Jessa was acting like an annoyed older sister, which is totally normal, but most toddlers are not raised by their annoyed teen sisters.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

I LOVE the idea of a show re-doing the girls' room to include ALL the girls! They could make one area for the little girls--the IKEA bunk beds and cute bedding would be nice. And then arrange an area for the older ones with reading lights so they can continue to read, study the Bible, etc without waking the little ones. It seems like there's a small area where they have the "extra" piano--maybe it could move to the hallway and that could have bunkbeds?? Or maybe those that sew could show off their "marketable marriage" skills and make matching quilts for the little ones--or for all of them.

[Blonde not dumb]

When they built that house it seems like they didn't plan for more children than they already had, which really never made sense to me given their, um, lifestyle. It seems like there would have been something in the works for extra children of either sex (or gender as the Duggars would say). They certainly have the space. Especially with the girls' room. The beds have their names carved on the headboards. That just doesn't make sense in their situation, where you may want to repurpose beds as one girl moves away to get married and another little girl needs a "big girl" bed. Come on Jim Boob, think ahead, man!

[Witsec2]

Jessa is probably doing to Jordyn just exactly what Michelle had done to her. She learned from experience. I don't believe for a second that Michelle keeps that cutesy voice going when the cameras aren't rolling.

The thing Jessa does-- lifting Jordyn's chin, making eye contact, having Jordyn repeat her-- is Michelle's way of parenting... she often says, "if you have their eyes, you have their attention."

I wouldn't say Jessa was "rough" with Jordyn. Rough would imply mishandling or yelling-- I see this more as Jessa being tough on Jordyn. While I agree that Jessa was too tough on Jordyn, I disagree with the fact that the child was present during Jessa's lesson... if she'd been in a more age-appropriate situation, maybe she wouldn't have needed correction.

[bananacat]

When they built that house it seems like they didn't plan for more children than they already had, which really never made sense to me given their, um, lifestyle. It seems like there would have been something in the works for extra children of either sex (or gender as the Duggars would say). They certainly have the space. Especially with the girls' room. The beds have their names carved on the headboards. That just doesn't make sense in their situation, where you may want to repurpose beds as one girl moves away to get married and another little girl needs a "big girl" bed. Come on Jim Boob, think ahead, man!

Yeah, I thought it was weird that the seemed to ignore how fertile Michelle is. At the very least, they could have used all trundle beds so that it wouldn't feel like they were sleeping in a half-empty dorm while they were waiting for more blessings to come along. I guess they didn't want to anger God by being too presumptuous and assuming they would get more blessings, but extra beds would have been useful for guests anyway since they have visitors so often.

Speaking of guests, do they have a normal-sized guest bedroom for adult guests? I haven't seen the special for years, but I don't remember it having more than those three bedrooms. Where does Grandma Duggar sleep? Did they partition off a part of the house into a bedroom or did they build in extra bedrooms from the beginning?

[Michiru]

The episode is up on youtube now and I thought it showed how helpless Jessa really is. Which is only natural- I just had my internship-semester in a school and it is a hard job to keep children focused. But I chose it, and although Michelle said Jessa wanted to do the schoolong, I doubt she knew what she got herself into. But maybe she thought is would be more fun that cleaning.

Anyway, I personally think it is some kind of violence to force children to look you in the eys. It shows them how much power you have over them and how small they are. And I don't think children should feel like that.

[Justme]

Speaking of guests, do they have a normal-sized guest bedroom for adult guests? I haven't seen the special for years, but I don't remember it having more than those three bedrooms. Where does Grandma Duggar sleep? Did they partition off a part of the house into a bedroom or did they build in extra bedrooms from the beginning?

[snickerz]

I think Jordyn was there as a type of blanket training. They expect/force the little ones to sit there and be bored listening to something way beyond their age level for long stretches of time to "teach" them to be still and to "obey." Then they "correct" any lapse of attention or fidgeting. Eventually this chips away at the child's sense that they have their own free will, and turns them into the robots they're striving to create.

[emmiedahl]

If that is so, Snickerz, it's really sad because it is so age-inappropriate. I think you're right, though. And I think that if cameras weren't there, Jessa would have smacked her.

[slickcat79]

Yeah, I thought it was weird that the seemed to ignore how fertile Michelle is. At the very least, they could have used all trundle beds so that it wouldn't feel like they were sleeping in a half-empty dorm while they were waiting for more blessings to come along. I guess they didn't want to anger God by being too presumptuous and assuming they would get more blessings, but extra beds would have been useful for guests anyway since they have visitors so often.

Speaking of guests, do they have a normal-sized guest bedroom for adult guests? I haven't seen the special for years, but I don't remember it having more than those three bedrooms. Where does Grandma Duggar sleep? Did they partition off a part of the house into a bedroom or did they build in extra bedrooms from the beginning?

I always kind of raised an eyebrow at the huge differences between the boys' dorm and the girls' dorm. The girls got the coordinating personalized wooden beds and all the soft lighting, while the boys got those metal-frame bunks that I've only ever seen in rental housing before. I know a large part was practicality because they had almost twice as many boys as girls at that point, but there were a lot of differences. I'm not sure what kind of plans they were making for the girls at that point, but they had to also consider that the whole SAHD thing would mean the girls would be around for longer while the older boys would be allowed to establish their own homes at a reasonable age.

Grandma's room is very oddly situated. If I remember the floorplans correctly, you have to walk through the laundry room to get into it, which is a bit of a strange place for a guest room in any case. It probably would have made more sense to designate that space as a schoolroom. It's kind of surprising that, in a 7000 square foot house, you wouldn't have a dedicated schoolroom when you intend to homeschool a dozen+ kids at any given time. Especially now that most of the kids are doing their work off computers. The Duggars better get on this remodel while they can still get TLC to pay for it...gravy train might be ending soon.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

The beds have their names carved on the headboards.

No worries--they're rub-on stickers, not carved.

I'm sure they were a little surprised at their own fertility. The upstairs is pretty "tight" due to the open great room, but they could likely remodel and make it more useful. I imagine the little girls sleep with a big sister anyway right now.